Never underestimate your brows.

What is wrong with the images below?


THE EYEBROWS, that's what. (Okay, except for the butterfly. I threw it in there to illustrate thin 'butterfly antenna'-like brows that were so hot amongst all the Asian girls back in the 90s.)

I recall one incident in high school, when a classmate pointed out to the entire class that I did not have eyebrows. I must've been about 14 or so, and back then in much simpler days no one really gave a hoot about facial hair (or lack thereof?!). But still, I felt rather humiliated especially because said classmate was someone I had a major crush on. (For the record, I did have eyebrows but they were quite faint because I have baby fine hair. I guess this particular classmate was turned on by the thick unibrow look.) Anyway as the years gone by, thru a chance encounter I got introduced to a Taiwanese makeup artist in Flushing, NY who tattoos eyebrows for a living. So I went ahead to tattoo my eyebrows, after being assured that "it won't look like our moms' eyebrows, where they used dark blue ink and it made them look fierce and angry all the time." True enough, the tattooed eyebrows looked really natural and I was very happy with the result. I'd gotten many compliments and subsequently many of my girl friends went to get their eyebrows tattooed from the same place I went to. (They too, were pleased with the results.) But alas, the tattoo I got in Flushing, NY had begun to fade in time and I've pretty much gotten by by hiding behind my bangs for the last several years. It was finally time to do something about my eyebrows. It was time to resurrect my brows. Brow Resurrection, as the procedure is referred to at BrowHaus.

The BrowHaus I went to was at Mandarin Gallery, Singapore. The brow technician who attended to me was super skillful. She first gave a consultation, examined the frame of my face, shape of my eyes and suggested a suitable design that complements. I will save the Before and After images for last.


To start, Wayne (my brow technician) cleaned up my eyebrows and got rid of all the distracting bits first.


A prototype of the suggested brow design was first drawn in pencil, to show me how they would frame my eyes. Wayne had made slight adjustments in the thickness, position of arch, angle of arch and the way the ends tapered.


Upon approval of the design, numbing cream was then applied to the brows. I have to say that in all of my experiences combined of getting tattoos (elsewhere) before, eyebrows were never an issue for me in terms of pain. Slight discomfort, yes. But nothing a couple of Tylenols can't take care of.


This is the ink that'd be used during the procedure. It's a vegetable-based dye, thus the greenish tint. No, I wouldn't be sporting spinach-green eyebrows by the time I was finished.


Now, the technique used was new to me. Instead of using a tattoo needle, with its familiar "bbbzzzzz" noise, Wayne used a small Xacto-knife-looking tool. With the tool, she made an impression of the blade on my eyebrows, one at a time. If that sounds painful, I assure it is not.


So in essence, she's kinda drawing or painting with individual strokes of ink, following the natural position and angle of the hair I already have. See the results below!


BROW RESURRECTION: BEFORE AND AFTER


This was what I started with originally. Not too bad under this natural lighting, but could definitely use some more definition.


So much more defined, yes? I am most impressed that each individual 'strand' is so distinct! How much more natural can it get? :D The traditional tattoo-ing method is coloring in a solid shape, instead of applying individual strokes like this.


Close up. Somewhat thin and uhm, looking rather bald towards the tail end.


Close up. Ahhh, much better thicker with neatly tapered tail end.


This is what I ended up with on the same day of the resurrection. Touch-up will be scheduled sometime within the next 3 months, after the ink has settled, the skin has completely healed, yadee-yada. So any minor adjustments and fixes will be done at that time.

Verdict: I LOVE MY RESURRECTED EYEBROWS!!! The entire procedure was relatively painless and mad props to Wayne at BrowHaus for doing such an excellent job. I think it's very important for a service provider who does permanent (and even semi-permanent) inking work to have the eye and the hand. Wayne is definitely a seasoned professional as she has the aesthetic sensibility to suggest the appropriate design for different clients, and she also has steady hands. She is gentle enough not to hurt you but firm and act swiftly during the parts that feel uncomfortable.

By the way, brow resurrection isn't just for ladies. Guys can also go for this (hello, unibrow!). I highly recommend BrowHaus. Team Moonberry: GO ASAP!!!

BrowHaus, Singapore
Mandarin Gallery #03-37
Tel: 6235-3402

BrowHaus, New York
56 Spring Street (btwn Lafayette and Mulberry)
Tel: 212-431-1124

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Some tips for grooming your brows like a star:


Pretty celebrity eyebrows.

1. Never underestimate your brows.
“They can make eyes look larger and bring up your cheekbones if they’re shaped correctly.”

2. Beware of the arch.
“If you over-tweeze there you’ll look surprised all the time.”

3. Don’t remove too much between your eyes either.
“That center space should be about the same size as one of your eyes.”

4. Thicker is better.
“Thick eyebrows are feminine, sexy and timeless.”

Peace out, *xoxo*
-MB.

Safari-themed Birthday Party

This post is long overdue (seriously WAY overdue) and if I don't get around to writing this soon, before you know it the birthday boy will be like, graduating high school already.... j/k. ;p This was a first time for me as event designer and party planner for others (themed-parties hosted at mi casa didn't count). Previously I had done exclusively weddings, so planning for a kid's party was different. Definitely fun-ner in comparison and there's no bridezillas to deal with. My proposed theme for this birthday party was Safari, and the occassion celebrates birthday boy Enzo turning the grand ripe age of ONE (oooohhhh, this is definitely a super big deal. A major milestone!)


Design idea board I put together to convey the theme visually. From custom invitations to decor to menu to dress code to party games, every detail was considered very carefully by me in preparation for this event. (Uhm, how did the pig and sheep manage to slip into this board!? Ignore the darn farm animals. Fakers! Wannabes!)


Final printed invitation.


Birthday boy Enzo marking his stamp of approval of the design, by chewing on the invitation. :p


The homemade birthday cake and cupcakes decorated with fondant.


Chocolate fondue fountain at the birthday party. Safari hats were given out as party favors.


Leopard-print outfits (see design idea board). Plastic binoculars were also given out as party favors.


MORE party favors with custom-designed stickers and Thank You tags.


Detail of custom Thank You tags.

So there you have it, a Safari-themed birthday party. Do you like it?
I'll write about the 2nd birthday party as soon as I can!

Peace out, *xoxo*
-MB.

From Fa-Fa-Flat to Va-Va-Voom! A Hair Makeover.

So my hair has always been on the fine side. Not fine like "Hey gurl, you so fine!" but fine as in thin in texture. Like baby hair. And it has always taken a whole lotta time to grow it out (See visual chart below). It's probably unrealistic for me to have really long hair, because it's so fine that anything longer than shoulder-length, my hair becomes very flat without volume. I know the current trend is all about pixie-cut but long hair still is one of the definitive feminine qualities for me. A girl can always dream of having long, silky hair that seems to float weightlessly whenever you toss your head back, like what you see in shampoo commercials, right? After sitting on the decision for two years-ish, a couple weeks ago I went ahead and tried on hair extensions for the first time at Milly's II Far East Plaza. I am most impressed by the fact that it took just a little under two hours to manually install attach 300 clustered strands via the braiding method and the process was hardly uncomfortable. The staff at Milly's did an outstanding job! I also like that this is not a permanent makeover and the extensions can be taken out anytime without damaging my own natural hair.



The journey which began in 2007 - long, short, bangs, no bangs, blonde highlights, jet black, purple, red, chestnut brown, auburn, burgundy, gold chunky highlights, eggplant purple, stick straight, curly, wavy, and so on and so forth. The one common factor? Flatness. I used to think that this must be an Asian thing, but I was wrong. It's just me. D'oh! -__-


Posing with Winter, who did my hair extensions at Milly's II Far East Plaza.
（哇～ Winter 好正啊！）

Milly's II Far East Plaza
14 Scotts Road #03-129
Singapore 228213

I am happy to say that my hair's pretty va-va-voom now, it's longer and much shinier than my natural hair. Most importantly: VOLUME! My hair's bouncy with big waves, whoohoooo~ "Venus Waves" (ビイナス　ウエーブ), as the Japanese calls it. Or "Wavy Curls" (波浪捲), as the Taiwanese calls it. After getting hair extensions, first thing my gal pal, who hasn't seen me in three months, said was, "Whoa, your hair got very long!". The hair extension has turned out to be most useful in the winter time, as it was adequately long and thick enough to be wrapped around my neck like a scarf, if needed be. Puwahahahaha! But no, of course I haven't done so. The hair has definitely kept me warm around the neck while I was waiting for the bus in sub-zero temperatures though, that much I'll say.

As far as maintenance goes, I was informed that the hair extensions can last up to 6 months and there isn't really any special care whatsoever to take note of. Just shampoo, condition, blowdry, style as usual. And as time passes, the attached extensions will shift downwards accordingly following the natural growth pattern of my own hair. Easy-peasy. Except that I realize now I'm way too lazy to be shampooing this much hair (uhm, volume... d'oh) and then styling the waves, so I've been going out for 'sai tau' (洗頭 ie. geting a wash-and-blowout) at the salon. :] Indulgent indeed.

I am hooked by Cool Hair Salon (40th Ave, 3rd floor, Flushing, NY; Sorry I dun have the exact address, just go to 40th Ave and look up, you'll see the awning with salon nameˇ). For only $10, you get deep cleansing shampoo, scalp massage, shoulder + neck + arm + hand massage, blowout (any style you wish). The whole session can last about two hours and in the last ten days, I've already gone thrice. Excessive? Nahhh. :X As the L'Oreal ad goes: Because I'm worth it. *Muwahahaha, j/k* :X In all seriousness, I am blown away -pardon the pun- by how extremely affordable it is to 'sai tau' at Cool. I feel super bad for leaving a standard tip of 20% so I've given more. Everyone reading this and who are in NY MUST check this salon out.


SAI TAU: Before and After


BEFORE (This shall be my default lazy day hairdo.)


BEFORE


AFTER


AFTER

COOL HAIR SALON
135-31 40th Road # 3A
Flushing, NY 11354

ˇ (Thanks to SS for the address. They also do hair extensions, btw.) 

The other day, I was at the mall browsing some clothes when suddenly I heard a female voice from behind my big hair and me exclaiming "I love your hair!". So I turned around and was about to say thank you for the compliment, but I ended up frozen on the spot because I was staring straight at this woman with what can only be best described as a ventriloquist puppet face. I KID YOU NOT @_@!!! The woman looked like she came straight out of a horror movie - like Bride of Chucky or something. I couldn't quite put my finger on what was exactly wrong with her face, maybe it was the painted-on butterfly-antenna high-arched eyebrows (?), her plastic-looking smile (?!) or the glassy 'crazy-person' eyes with bulging eyeballs (?!?). Either way it stopped me dead on my tracks and it took me a second or two before I regained composure and stammered "T-T-Th-Thank you". I also tried my best to contort my face and squeeze out an awkward plastic smile (to match hers).

A compliment is still a compliment and I graciously accept. But still... I didn't expect it coming from someone with a marionette face. :X I totally didn't have enough time to react with courtesy.

Sorry I digressed. The point is, this hair makeover has gotten me plenty of compliments - including from this strange-looking woman. :P So yeay hair extensions!

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Btw, there's been an influx of readers arriving to this blog via PetiteMandoo's. So I wanna give a big shout-out to my homegurl from Noo Joyzee *HI SUSAN*!!! :D :D :D Thanks for the love. By the way, I hate that woman... A mother of two kids below the age of three, with a full-time job and still so petite, energetic + vivacious!!! How does she do it? :p Oh, I deliberately put captions directly on the photos in this entry, as a tribute to Susan's blog. She, imo, pioneered the monologue-ish captions rendered in cute scrawl-like font directly on her images (Dang that was one mouthful of a long sentence!!!). Anyhoo, a big welcome to PetiteMandoo readers... I am happy you are here and hope you enjoy this blog too. :)

Peace out, *xoxo*
-MB.

Chinky eyes no more!

The sheer amount of age-reversing, complexion-enhancing makeup and the plethora of beauty apparatus available in the market today is mind-boggling. Used creatively and with some experiments, you can really transform yourself to look totally different. A better-looking version of yourself! (And I don't mean by photoshopping the way you look in photos.) You don't even need to go under the knife and get aesthetic surgery - which works out really well for non-permanent enhancements.

I think the key area for a successful transformation is THE EYES. Gotta work on the eyes. Once you get the eyes right, your entire face looks different. Check out the images below:













The above images are taken from a Taiwanese entertainment show, which you can view here.

Basic recipe for transforming chinky eyes to sparkling anime eyes:

Smoky-eye Makeup
Dark Eyeliner
Fake Eyelashes
Pupil-Enlarging Contacts





Hahahaha, I just have to put the image of Puss in Boots because those eyes are the most irresistible ever!!! :D You too, can look like him, with the help of the pupil-enlarging contacts.

Peace out, *xoxo*
-MB.

Jade nails.

I'm beginning to feel the Christmas spirit in the air (about time!) so when I went to groom my nails this week, I opted for a semi pastel-y green shade that is reminiscent of... um, holly and pine?!? I don't normally go for this color (my default was black for 2009 and eggplant purple for 2010). Somehow when I was staring at the rack of nail polishes, I was involuntarily drawn to the green shades this time.


Jade nails + Raspberry lips = the perfect disguise to don holiday colors without looking like a X'mas tree! I am happily admiring my nails when I suddenly crack myself up because...


I realize it's the same shade of green as MLBR Menthol branding! @_@ Puwahaha. Who'd have thunk?!?


Chanel Nail Color in Jade.
Barry M Nail Paint in Spring Green.


How adorable is this glass ball with a solitary tree inside it? It's so beautiful!

Green looks so pretty and is appropriate for this time of the year, isn't it? Just a little over a week before we hit Christmas. Wheeeeeee~

Happy holidays to you and yours. Peace out.

XOXO,
-MB.

Wrapped up for winter.

I caught a snippet of the news on TV last night and they reported that 40% of the US is presently covered in snow. :0 It's been flurry-ing on/off just very slightly in NYC so it's not as bad as the northern states across the country. But still, the weather is extremely cold and for the last two days, whenever I went out there weren't too many people on the streets. Throw in the wind chill factor though and the streets were even more deserted. I seriously had to bundle myself up before going outdoors.

Just the other day, I layered myself with 1 HeatTech body warmer around the waist, 1 long sleeve HeatTech undershirt, 1 fleece pullover, 1 scarf, 1 down jacket, 1 pair thick leggings, 1 pair skinny jeans, 1 pair fleece socks, 1 pair Uggs, 1 pair fleece gloves. That's a lot of clothing, folks. And it was *still* cold! :0 From the outside, I looked like the photo below (you don't get to see the layers and layers underneath). Can I just say that I nearly threw up from being wrapped like a dumpling, because it got very suffocating after a while. Freezing outdoors, warm indoors (thanks to space heaters).



1. Scarf: This is an area where you can spice up your winter wardrobe. Generally I don't see a lot of colorful outerwear during the winter, say on the subway and on the streets. Everyone's pretty much wearing black. Black jacket, black coat, black pants, black boots, black beanie. The weather's depressing enough, so cheer up your outerwear a bit by accessorizing in bright colors or patterns, you know?

2. Down jacket: I don't know how they do it, but I know of some guy friends who manage to get by all winter by just wearing a polyester windbreaker or a hoodie. O_o?!? They must have an infinite reserve of internal body heat or something. I can't survive without a well-padded down jacket. Down jackets really work to insulate body heat and keeping me warm. And they're light enough to be packed away during off-season; I put mine in a vacuum-sealed bag, goes from fluffy to flat in seconds. Convenient for traveling too, when there isn't enough room in the suitcase.

3. Jeans: I'm sporting skinny jeans this season, with enough denim elasticity for me to layer a pair of leggings underneath. It's bad enough to be walking around super puffy from all the layers of clothes and looking like an overweight penguin on top. Wearing something skinny is flattering.

4. Uggs: OOOOHHHHH I LOVE MY UGGS. This is by far, the BEST investment ever and my toesies are kept really toasty and warm in the winter. Back in my snowboarding days, my toes often get frostbitten - that was not fun at all. You know how they say you lose heat through your head and your feet, meaning if your head and/or feet are cold, your entire body is cold. It's true! It's important to keep your feet warm (and wear a hat or pull on the hood of your jacket).



Just how cute are these mini Uggs replica for a baby? :D :D :D
(Uhm, no my feet aren't that big. Everything looks big next to baby shoes, HELLO!)

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What is unseen but can definitely be felt?

STATIC.

And we get lots of it during the winter. I forgot about this when I attended a wedding over the weekend and wore my silk Elizabeth and James Japonais short dress. I had bright pink leggings underneath and oh my god, the dress was sticking on me and bunching up in all the weird places below the belt. It was mad unflattering. I ended up grabbing a can of Cling from a Duane Reade nearby, sprayed the hell out of the dress and managed to survive the rest of the wedding. Phew.
I should've done my homework and read this before hand: How to Stop Static on a Dress Clinging to You.




E&J Japonais dress, worn by Faye Wong. }:)

The other thing about static is, whenever you kiss and hug someone hello or goodbye, you will zap the other person. Ouch! Not very romantic or friendly, eh? Talk about an electrifying kiss that takes your breath away. :X It literally is!

New York is home.

I am freezing my buns off. This winter is c-c-c-cold... DISLIKE!!!







Juxtaposing present day me and some pictures I took in my apartment last year. View the full collection here. Winter always makes me a tad melancholy because the weather is just so, gray and heavy. And it goes on and on for what feels like an unbearably long season. Depressing.

In spite of it, New York is still home to me. :*]

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Along the same note, I received a birthday gift in 2009 with a card attached which read "Home is where your heart is" (yah yah, how cliché — that was my initial reaction, I even rolled my eyes for effect). Interestingly, now that I'm finally beginning to find my footing once again (baby steps), I feel an appreciation towards how true that statement is. I guess it didn't become a cliché for nothing huh? Undeniably home *is* turning out to be where my heart is (but this is where I surprise myself because it's not quite where I thought it would/should be). Ah, a sign of moving on. Good sign.

Uhm, sorry if the above paragraph reads like some crazy ambiguous rambling that does not make any sense. It shouldn't, because I am also still figuring it out for myself. We'll see - baby steps, baby steps.

Reflection.

The end of the year is fast approaching. In the midst of all the (usual) business, make time. Time for contemplation. Time to reflect on all that have happened throughout the year. Time to genuinely appreciate all the blessings which have been gifted. Time to celebrate having survived yet one more year, relatively unscathed. Time to forgive self for any misgivings (and for setting such a high bar; but refuse to lower it next year). Time to get over the could-haves/should-haves/would-haves. Time to let go of all the anger which one's been carrying all year (easier said than done, naturally). Time to take stock of what is going on in one's life and treat self to positive glimpses of the future. Time to indulge in one's dreams and permit self to lift both feet off the ground for just a teeny bit. Give self some slack and learn how to roll with it. Remind self that next year is gonna be even more kick-ass. Enjoy the magic and just breathe. Breathe.

And Buddha said, "This land is mine, these sons are mine" - such are the words of the fool who does not understand that even he is not his. You never really possess things. You merely hold them for a while. If you are unable to give them away, you are held by them. Whatever you treasure must be held in the hollow of your hand as water is held. Clutch at it and it is gone. Appropriate it to yourself and you soil it. Set it free and it is forever yours. Anthony de Mello, S.J. 1996

Worried about getting older? Nah. You're actually growing wiser and more importantly, happier. :*)

Peace out.

xoxo,
-MB.

Ice ice baby.

Diamonds are a girl's best friend forever. Kekeke.





♡

我快要把自己給弄瞎了，因為實在太 bling! Ho seem ah...
(這顆算是咱倆吵完架後你對我的，uhm，彌補吧~~~ 嘿嘿。)